Enter kansas
by James Vermont
Summary: Kansas is just your normal 15 year old girl. Who is a top agent at Project Freelancer.
1. A new girl in town

_Directors log_

_I was headed for a meeting with the chairman on the over sight sub-committee today. We never had a face to face meeting before and I would prefer not to expose myself in public but I need his permission to continue with my experiments._

_However as I walked I came across a young street urchin, a young girl with brown hair and covered in filth. We met because she picked my pocket and the only reason she was caught was because of agent Wyoming, who had accompanied me, seeing her. I told Wyoming to take the girl to the drop ship and to take her to the mother of invention. I met with the chairman and was able to ignore his utter incompetence and idiocy due to my elated mood._

_I have a new agent for project freelancer._

My name is agent Kansas

I have spent the last five years on the Mother of invention. The other agents were unaware of my presence, only the director, the counsellor agent Wyoming and the pilot 479er knew of my presence. For some reason they told me I was special, I was the youngest agent ever to be brought to freelancer. I am now 15 years old and a certified pilot, a skilled pickpocket and one of the best snipers in the project.

Today is my initiation day, the director is presenting me to the other freelancers, and bringing me into the formal training and more importantly the ranking system.

She stood, in her tan armour and stared at her gloved hands, it had a black trim and as she thought, looked good on her.

"agent Kansas"

She looked up and laid eyes on the man who had mentored her for the last five years, his white armour was, as usual spotless and his moustache well-trimmed.

"Wyoming"

"It's time for your presentation to our…colleagues"

She smiled at him and picked up her helmet. She looked around her room and sighed, this was the last time she would call it her room as she was being moved to the barracks with the others. She looked around one last time and followed Wyoming out, through the hallways and into the elevator, she stared at the door completely focused. She had her knives with her, strapped to her legs, her Magnum handgun on her belt and her sniper rifle on her back. Four weapons that she had come to rely on every day, every training session for the last five years. The elevator opened and she stepped out, she was in the briefing room and she saw 46 armoured soldiers in chairs looking at her. In a seat in the back she saw 479er, her closest friend. The director and counsellor were standing in between them all and watching her intently. Wyoming whispered in her ear.

"Madam, if you will" he gave her a little nudge and she walked forward and to the director, who, had begun speaking again.

"Agent Kansas will be joining you in your training from now on. She has already performed five years of freelancer level training and is only 15 years old. I expect you all to treat her with the respect that she has earned and for our more senior and seasoned agents to show her the basics of how we work and interact together in this ship. Am I understood?"

The freelancers all stood up and to attention, saluting the director and giving out the ringing call

"Yes sir"

The initiation was over, Wyoming had to give a report to the director and head to training so the small 15 year old girl was left all alone in the ship. She wandered around aimlessly not knowing where to go.

"Hey man I told you already you can't do that!"

"Oh come on! You're too scared to ask her out, so let me take a crack at it!"

"Hey. Bro code dude! I called dibs!"

"Oh come on York"

"Wash, I'm a nice guy but if you touch Carolina I'm going to kill you"

Kansas heard the two agents talking and smiled, she had seen their names on the leader board, Washington was currently ranked as 9th and York was the top ranked agent. Closely followed by agent Carolina. But from what she had heard, the changed often, every mission and training session the top two names on the leader board would switch. At the moment it was agent New York at the top.

The two soldiers walked around the corner and spied her, stopping their argument. York was wearing tan armour, like hers and wash was wearing grey armour with a yellow trim. They stared at her for a second, and wash walked away saying.

"I'm late for a training session"

"Yeah, whatever man... hey!"

She had turned away from him but as he called out her name she looked back at him. He walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm York"

"I know. I'm Kansas"

"I know. I'm going to show you around."

She looked at him, but she didn't refuse, he out ranked her and she didn't fell like getting on his bad side, although if Wyoming could be believed, York didn't have a bad side.

"Um, okay then"

York walked in front of her and led her through the hallways.

"Do you know what room you're staying in?"

"No"

"Lucky for you, I do"

She stopped in her tracks.

"How?"

York gave her a look and continued walking, so she followed.

"Because I'm friends with your roommate and she told me"

"Oh... okay"

She followed York and eventually he reached a door and knocked on it

"Come in!"

"What no! Don't come in!"

"Oh stop being such a fucking prude!"

"Hey south?"

"Yeah what?"

There was a pause and she heard a loud thump and the sound of the one girl, South shouting in pain, and then the door opened and a woman in blue armour with long red hair opened the door, she saw York and smiled.

"Hey York! South will be out in a minute, she's not dressed to receive….also her nose is broken"

York laughed and pointed at Kansas

"Well, I present to you your new roommate. Agent Kansas"

Carolina looked her up and down and smiled

"Welcome to the project roomie. Let me show you your bunk and then I'll show you top the next two most important places in the base"

"Which are?"

"The mess hall and"

"The bar" York interjected and Carolina glared at him.

"She's only 15 York. And no, I mean the showers. And judging by the smell I would guess that you have forgotten were those were"

York blushed under her haze and walked away

"I…I… I'm gonna go… take a um... shower"

Carolina looked at Kansas. And Kansas looked back. And they laughed.


	2. Big Plans

Director's log

_Today I met with the current chairperson of the UNSC's oversight subcommittee. Michelle Ayayne and her assistant Malcolm Hargrove. Hargrove was a soft touch, a man in pursuit of power but unable to get it. Ayayne was a hard woman, like what I would have been like if I was in her position. She was inspecting my troop assignment orders and had seen that of Agent Kansas. She had the audacity to confront me on the issue, saying that my motives were not as I had stated them. I must admit to myself that they are not. But there is no need for that. She also had the nerve to insult my grammar, saying that I had been lax in my use of the apostrophe in my previous letters to her._

_But for now she need not know the real reason for Agent Kansas's presence here_

Part 2

-Three weeks later-

Kansas sprinted down the hallway at top speed.

"Fuck, she's going to kill me!"

She almost ran into Wash, but the idiot…and yes to the freelancers he was an idiot… shat himself seeing her charging form heading past him that he fell over. She had just enough time to hear him shout

"SON OF A"

Before his coffee split on what sounded like an unfortunate place.

She ran through the doors and into the hanger and there she was, her new pelican, shiny, sleek beautiful. And in front of it…was 479er. And she was not happy.

"Where the hell have you been kid? Do you think I get paid to teach you? Come on move your ass! Get in there!"

Kansas ran into the pelican but as she got past 47 she felt her shoulder twist back as the pilot grabbed her shoulder.

"Hey hey! Are you just gonna fly without doing your pre-flight checks come on now you've been flying for two years already!"

"I…I... thought you had done them"

"What! Do you think I'm gonna be your lil servant girl. You wanna make me your bitch is that it!"

47 walked toward her and looked down at the younger girl

"I'm top of the pecking order here kiddo, you think you wanna take me out. Go ahead, try it"

"I...i..."

Kansas could say no more. She turned and ran out of the hanger, tears streaking down her face, she ran through the hallways, past Washington, who had just cleaned the coffee of himself, and down into the mess hall, she ran through and sat at her table. Her table was in the corner, with only one chair so no one else could talk to her.

She got along well with her roommate Carolina, and York was always fun to be around but they were like siblings. She wanted a friend. There was Wyoming, but he was more of a father like figure. She could speak to the counsellor that was his job after all. But he scared her.

All in all, she hated this place.

Then as she was sitting, something flickered in front of her, and a sapphire like person faded into view in front of her. He was wearing armour like her but held a sniper rifle in his hands; he was very small and looked at her with pitiful eyes.

"Hey…are you okay?"

His voice was sharp and winy at the same time, but it was also soothing.

"Um, yeah…sure"

"Because I'm reading your emotions right now and I am sensing loneliness and sadness and a need to feel accepte…"

"I said I am okay!"

"Now I sense anger"

She looked at him and chuckled

"So…what's your name kid?"

"Um. I'm Kansas"

The small figure looked at her, he studied her for a long time, he floated up to her and sat on her shoulder, she looked at her from all angles before returning to his place on the table and gazing softly at her"

"You can call me alpha"

Director's log

_My next experiment is well under way. Agent Kansas has spent five weeks with the group and has shown much progress, her ranking is currently 17th place. Which for a child is excellent? But what would happen if my AI, alpha was to implant in her. Nobody else will know of it of course. But will she go to the top of the line. Or will she fall. It is time for the AI testing phase for project freelancer to begin._

_Yes, I have big plans for Agent Kansas._


	3. Keeping secrets

_Director's log_

_There was a break in this morning, and an AI chip was stolen. It is obvious to me that this was Kansas and Alpha's doing. They attempt has fooled my inspectors. I did not quite understand how skilled Kansas was, until now. She reminds me of Alison, but that is not surprising, they are alike in more ways than needs to be discussed in this entry. All that needs to be said is, that I feel the need to keep her safe, but this I will not do. She is more than capable, and once Alpha is implanted in her, the point I think, of the break in, her training will begin proper. And she will become the best, maybe better even, than Carolina._

Kansas sat in her room, her head buzzing, a sharp pain sped through her brain and her eyes flashed, her vision darkened and she passed out.

_Hey kid? You ok? Kid? Kid!_

The voice in her head persisted, demanding her attention, assaulting her mind with thoughts and words. A small sapphire figure appeared in front of her, he wore armour just like her, and carried a sniper rifle. She pulled herself up, gripping onto the bedpost as she did, and once she was up, her hand remained glued to it, and she tried to steady herself.

Alpha had guided her through the self-implantation process, but that didn't make it any easier, or less painful. She blocked out the memory from her mind, or rather, she asked alpha to. Afterwards all she could remember was that it involved driving a spike into the back of her spine, right where it became her neck.

_So, are you gonna talk to me or not?_

The AI's voice buzzed in her head. They had done AI theory in class before, but they were not receiving AI until further notice. According to the director they had yet to aquire sufficient AI.

_That's bullshit by the way_

Alpha, it seemed, could read her thoughts.

_The only AI on the ship are me and phyliss. And from what I hacked off the directors logs, it looks like he doesn't plan to get any more_

"then what does he mean by acquiring new AI?"

_I don't know but I would like to figure out what he means by. Acquired_

Then suddenly the door open, and Carolina walked in, Alpha vanished and Kansas stood back against the wall, trying her best to hide the AI chip in her neck. Carolina looked at her and nodded warmly. In the last few weeks they had become close friends, after the incident with 479er Kansas had felt more alone than ever, and while Alpha was a good friend to her, she needed someone human, a girl, to talk to. And there was no chance in hell she was going to try bond with South, and no one ever saw Connecticut out of missions and training, she turned to Carolina. They had talked about everything they possibly could, and Kansas felt more at home than she had in weeks. Wyoming had been sent on a mission after she arrived at Freelancer, and he hadn't been heard from since. There were times when she cried for the loss of her friend, something no one understood. She looked up to Wyoming as a father. Wyoming? A father? It didn't seem possible but there it was.

Carolina slowly shrugged off her armour, a rancid smell filled their room, it smelled of sweat, and blood, and god knows what else the Aqua/blue/greenish armoured freelancer had splattered on her gear during her training session with South. All her sessions were tough but for some reason Carolina really hated South. But on the other hand, her training sessions with York were much more relaxed, Kansas had often teased her about it, in their late night girl talk evenings, where they would stay up until the early hours of the morning, and South would yell at them from keeping her from her sleep. They once drugged her and put purple highlights in her hair, at first she was mad, then she decided she liked them, and kept the purple blotches of dye.

"you ok Kansas?" She asked, glancing at the young agent's very guilty looking face.

"hm?"

Carolina sighed

"your face, what have you done?"

Kansas struggled to find an answer, then Alpha spoke in her mind.

_Tell her you organized a date for her with Agent.. um…_

"Washington" Kansas spat out.

Carolina looked at her.

"what about him?"

"I saw you were tired, and I uh, told wash that you. Ah. Liked him, and that you wanted to. Ah, go for, um, a. date, I wanted it to be a surprise"

_Oh this is going to end badly. So so badly_

Carolina looked at her, her face a mask of horror.

"Why would you do that?" Her voice was seething

Kansas squeaked

"I just wanted to give you a present"

Carolina's face looked even more surprised, if that was even possible

"What?"

_That's good; it's her birthday tomorrow, according to her files_

Having an AI was looking much better now

"It's your birthday tomorrow Lina"

Before she could even continue her argument Carolina stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Alpha appeared next to her and laughed.

_For a military base there sure is a lot of emotional drama bullshit soap opera crap that goes on here_

Kansas ignored him and lies down on the bed

"This is your fault you know" She said

_How the fuck is this my fault?_

"I was trying to keep our secret. Trying to hide you"

_You the one who wanted an AI. This was YOUR idea_

And with that, Kansas rolled over in her bed, and began to cry.

The alpha AI sighed, watched her, and then sent off a message to Agent Washington to execute their plan.

_Director's log_

_I have organised a training match for tomorrow. One that will test Kansas in her use of AI, the match will be a tag team. Kansas and New York, against Washington and Wyoming._

_Both the Agents have ties to Wash and Wyoming, so I expect a fight, a vicious, no holds fight._

_And of course, I have a surprise in store for Kansas._


	4. Kans-alpha

_Director's log_

_Kansas and the alpha have begun to bond, to connect, and the level this relationship has extended to will be demonstrated today in the training __**match**__. It is time to see what Alpha can do. And prove to those dissenters that AI is the future of warfare._

The freelancer base was a buzz of excitement, guards and agents rushed to the observation deck, anxious to get a good view. South was the last to get there, but the gathered soldiers let her pass, parting like the red sea, mainly in fear of her renowned sadistic fighting style. And so the freelancers not in the match leaned against the glass screen. It was a tag team fight, Kansas and York, against Wash and Wyoming. The reasons to be interested in this match were many, for one, York was furious when he found out about the **Carolina** Wash date. He did his best to hide it, but his feelings for Carolina were quite well known and even others who dared admire her, admired from a distance, letting York take the conch. So when Washington sheepishly announced his date with Carolina, York stormed off, putting his helmet over his head to hide his evident rage saturated face.

Another reason was that no one had actually seen Kansas in a fight, her training with the simulations and with the guards was not very impressive, and due to her more secretive nature over the last few weeks, they had not seen much of them. But now she couldn't hide, and her fight was against Wyoming, recently returned from a mission. He was like a father to her, and they had been friends for five years. But there was not a doubt in their minds that Wyoming would not cut her slack.

The four agents made their way onto the training room floor. **York** set both his eye on Wash, who looked very small and shy. Wyoming stood proudly, his sniper rifle in his hands, clean and polished. Kansas was trying not to attract attention. She was scared of fighting Wyoming, Wash was a bit of a push over, but he was still a high ranked freelancer. Higher than her at least.

_You can beat these guys_

The alpha's words gave her some small comfort, at least. He appeared inside her visor, and his helmet vanished, revealing his face, it was kind, and comforting, although she had seen him get annoyed often.

_Just trust me, and everything will be fine_

She allowed him a small smile and stared ahead at the room, everyone was watching her, and it was unnerving. Phyllis's voice rang out across the hall

"The rules are as follows, there is one round, and it will go until both members of team one, or team two, have surrendered. The fighters will take turns fighting; one on one, when you have had enough you may opt out and swap with your team **mate**, who may in turn swap with you. The fighting will not end during the swaps. So plan accordingly. Good luck"

The four contestants moved to their positions. Washington decided to go up first, once he saw that it was Kansas, not York that was up, he stood at the ready, his battle rifle at the ready. She stood opposite him. Her sniper in her hands, and two pistols at her hips, she had loaded extra clips of the paintball rounds, and stood at the ready. The pillars rose around the room, and phyliss counted down

"Round one, five, four, three, two, one, round begin"

Washington wasted no time, he raised his rifle and opened fire on her, and she dived to cover behind a pillar and pressed her back up against it. Wash kept up his hail of paint bullets, her breath slowly.

"Alpha, analyse rate of fire for his battle rifle, call out mark at the pause for the burst"

_Done. I have also prepared a flash, I can generate it myself_.

"Nice. Thanks alph"

_Ready your weapon._

She held her sniper up and crouched down low.

_Sync_

"Sync"

_Mark_

A flash of blue light filled the room, it lasted for only a second, Kansas shut her eyes and it was all over instantly for her, when they flicked open again the room was clear, but Wash could be heard shouting loudly as he scrambled around for his weapon. She turned out of cover, and watched him run into a pillar, knocking himself out. Phyliss' voice echoed across the hall

"Round one complete. Winner, Kansas"

She looked at the people around her, and alpha appeared in her helmet and smiled at her.

_I told you, you could do it Kansas. Well done_

"No alph, we did it. Together"

Then phyliss' voice returned

"There has been a change in the contest. Due to the injuries acquired by Washington, York and Wyoming will be fighting in a team against Kansas"

The two agents took the floor to her, and readied their weapons

_Well, shit_

_Director's log_

_The fight against Washington showed that Alpha and Kansas are more than capable of defeating superior agents, provided they work together. Now it is time for a more challenging match. I will be sending this message to the chairwoman of the oversight subcommittee. And prove to that woman once and for all the correctness of my theories._


End file.
